Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Zero no Tsukaima. Yu-Gi-Oh! Belongs to Konami Entertainment and Zero no Tsukaima belongs to Noboru Yamaguchi. Please support them both.

Run.

Just keep running.

Don't stop. Don't look back. Just run!

That was what the girl kept telling herself while her legs continued to work themselves harder than they ever have before in her life. She didn't know where she was running to or what she hoped to find, but she knew she couldn't stop.

She could feel her entire body ache and her chest cramp up in pain from the heavy breaths she was taking. How long had she been running exactly? It felt like a lifetime to her, like her whole life had been spent doing nothing but continuously running. At the same time, it felt like she had only started mere moments ago, almost as if time itself had frozen around her and was looping her in place, like it was taunting her or something. Not that she really bothered to keep track of the time considering she was trapped in some forsaken abyss of darkness.

All around the girl could see nothing but emptiness and shadows that seemed to stretch for eternity. There was no trace of anything she could recognize or even a person to call for help. Even if there were someone she'd have no way of telling since there wasn't a light source to help her see.

How had she ended up here even? She couldn't recall. The last she remembered was heading back to her room for a good night's sleep and then…nothing. No memory of what happened afterwards, no recollection of her entering the room or going to bed, or anything at all. Had she even gotten to her room in the first place?

She didn't know! She felt as though the memory was right there in front of her, just out of reach but unable to be claimed, like there was a wall or something that kept it from her so she could continue suffering in blind confusion. It only served to add to her frustration as well as fear, not knowing anything about where she was or what she was doing.

Though did any of that really matter now considering the circumstance?

Shaking her head of such questions the girl continued to run while heavy pants of air escaped from her burning throat. Was it still behind her? She didn't know, but she didn't dare to look back. Every time she did, every time she looked at "it", her body froze up and a cold twisted feeling hit her chest. As if she was staring into the face of death itself.

Was that it? Was it death that was chasing her? The cold eternal embrace that ended all things?

But why? Why her of all people? She was still young, still beautiful, and plenty healthy. She had her whole life ahead of her. Why then would death be after her? Had she done something wrong, maybe earned its ire in some way?

Or perhaps…something even more horrifying to consider.

Did this mean she was already dead!?

It couldn't be! If she was dead she had no recollection of it! There was no memory, nothing in her thoughts that spoke the cause of her death, just like how she had no memory as to why she was running!

Did she die honorably? Did she crawl in some corner somewhere and simply waste away, Brimir forbid!? It was a horrible thought to consider, her being dead without knowing the reason behind it. If she weren't in such a panicked state right now she probably would have taken the time to truly comprehend the fact that her life was now forfeit to the great beyond.

Or at the very least, soon to be.

"Ah!"

The thoughts of the runner were cut off as her legs finally gave out, the burning sensation being too much for her body to handle. She tumbled onto the cold rocky surface below her, giving out a small cry from the impact. For a moment she laid there, shaking in exhaustion and pain while struggling to catch her breath. But knowing she couldn't stay like this, she eventually gritted her teeth and shakily began to push herself up as fast as she could.

SHINK!

Only to freeze when a large and sharp crimson spear crashed into the ground before her.

Eyes wide with terror, she jumped back with a startled scream before snapping her head to the direction the attack came from. What she saw sent a cold wave of terror down her spine.

In the endless void, almost hidden within the dark shadows, was a massive figure. Bigger than any creature the girl had seen in her life, even her mother's manticore. Its body, despite being shrouded, glowed with a blood red aura that seemed to pierce through the darkness and flow through every inch of its form, almost as if the aura were alive. As the red light grew brighter a pair of golden eyes emerged slightly above the glow, glaring down through the dark and staring right at her.

Panic set into the girl's mind. She started crawling backwards in a desperate attempt to put distance between herself and the monster before her.

She stopped completely when she felt her back press up against something hard.

Eyes widened. Breath became short and rapid. Her body shook while thoughts became a state of turmoil. Slowly the girl turned her gaze behind her to see what she had collided with.

And was greeted by a pair of heterochromic eyes.

A dark blue abyss in one.

And a blood red crimson in the other.

"Ah...ahhhh..."

The girl's mind froze as she struggled to look away. To get up, to scream, to do something! But her body refused to answer her as the dual-colored eyes continued to stare back. Her nerves finally seemed to answer her though as a loud and terrified scream tore its way out of her mouth. She immediately pushed herself off the figure and ferociously crawled away, her body turning to fully face the entity as she was afraid of giving her back to it.

"S-Stay away!" The girl begged, pleaded even, hoping that whatever was looking at her would listen. But it didn't care. Instead the figure seemed to lift its left arm towards her as a crimson light began to emit from it. "No...Stop it...Leave me alone!"

Panic controlled the girl's actions as she tried to push herself further away from the monster before her. However, as her hand moved down to the surface a loud cracking sound reached the girl's ears, giving only the briefest of warnings before she felt the ground below her palm suddenly cave in and fall away from her touch, making her hand lose balance and pull down in the same direction.

Causing the rest of her body to immediately do the same.

Her eyes filled with fear. The girl tossed her arms out desperately to grab hold of something, anything to hold onto. But only air greeted her as gravity finally took its hold, pulling her entire body to topple over and plummet into the dark and endless void.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

SMACK!

Only to slam hard onto a cold wooden floor.

"..."

A pair of eyelids twitched, brief flickers of pain and irritation seen in their tightness before they slowly opened to reveal a soft bright pink color, their gaze taking in the wooden flooring just below.

"Wha…"

Grunting softly, the eyes closed as their owner, a young and small female figure, pushed herself up off the ground in confusion.

"What...How did I…?"

The girl seemed dazed and reached though her long and flowing pink hair to scratch the top of her head. Her hand immediately pulled away at the touch while the rest of her body visibly flinched as a jolt of pain shot through the girl's skull.

"Ow!"

Confusion struck the girl, wondering what happened to bring her such agony until she realized she must have landed on her head when she fell. Ignoring the pain the girl straightened her posture and started looking around to take in the sight. It was a bedroom, her bedroom to be exact, with white walls everywhere, shelves and decor of wondrous make all around, a pair of windows on the wall to her left, and a large soft queen-sized bed in the corner.

A bed she had been sleeping on not long ago until "it" happened again. The girl's expression shifted from confusion to sorrow as her eyes turned down to the floorboard.

"That dream again," the girl whispered to herself, her hands tightening into small fist. "Why…? Why won't it just go away already? Brimir, why is this happening to me?"

She sat in silence, waiting quietly as if almost expecting an answer to come to her, whether by her own thoughts or someone else appearing before her. Yet only silence greeted the girl. She closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

She shouldn't have expected any less.

DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

Suddenly the sound of a bell ringing hit the pinkette's ears, causing her eyes to pop open once more. Head snapping upwards the girl pushed herself off the ground and rushed towards the window to her left, pushing it open before sticking her head forward to look out from it.

The girl winced briefly and raised a hand to cover her eyes from the bright rays of the morning sun that greeted her. After adjusting to the sudden brightness, she focused her attention back to the sight below her and looked around for something specific. It didn't take long for her to spot her target, and upon doing so all traces of confusion and pain were quickly stripped away from her mind.

And instead replaced with immediate panic.

"I overslept!"

Without a second thought the girl rushed from the window to her drawer, yanking out several layers of clothing as she rapidly moved to dress herself. Today was a big day after all, and she would never forgive herself for being late for such an important event.

Because today was the day she would finally prove herself to everyone. She would prove once and for all that she wasn't just some failure at magic. That she wasn't a dead last or a mistake. That she wasn't a "Zero."

She was Lousie de La Valliere, and today she would prove that she was a proper noble!

Somewhere in an endless void of dark, a figure slept in eternal silence.

Never noticing the faint pulsing crimson glow emitting from its chest.

BA-BUMP!

Hello everyone. The name is TrueHeartKnight and this is my first chapter of my first story of fan fiction.

I have been a reader of fanfic for several years now and have enjoyed reading and watching the different stories and worlds people can create, but have always been afraid to upload or create my own stories despite having so many ideas I wanted to share, most of which were crossover ideas.

But recently I got back into the writing spirit and decided to finally come out of my shell and join the site for the first time in forever. And this is my first story to share on the site for everyone.

Now I will be honest, I do not know how many stories I will be able to do at a time, or even if I can update really fast and frequently since this is my first time doing this. I do have several chapters already planned out and even written for this story but am still getting used to how everything works on the site, so I do not know when they will show. Also due to both my real life events and nervousness about writing a story on here, I ask that you guys assist me in getting used to the site, how things work, and even ideas and events for my story so that I can grow and write more.

As I said I don't know how often I'll be able to write or what kind of stories, or even how many. But I want to do this because it's something I have always loved and wanted to share. So wish me luck, and I hope you enjoy the ride on my first story.

Signed,

TrueHeartKnight